Questions for Written Answer

Lord Jopling: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President on 6 July (WA 71), how many Questions for Written Answer have so far been allocated to the Northern Ireland Office this Session to date; how many have not been answered within two weeks; and what percentage that constitutes.
	 Question number missing in Hansard, possibly truncated question.

Baroness Amos: Four hundred and fifty-six Questions for Written Answer have been allocated to the Northern Ireland Office in this Session. Three hundred and thirty-five of those have not been answered within two weeks. This constitutes a percentage of 72 per cent.
	Four thousand, one hundred and twenty-two Questions for Written Answer have been tabled to date in this Session.

HIV/AIDS

The Earl of Sandwich: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether funds set aside to benefit AIDS orphans will be used for sustainable development in the orphans' own communities rather than for institutional care; and what assessment they have made of previous funding in this context.
	 Question number missing in Hansard, possibly truncated question.

Baroness Amos: DfID is currently developing the detailed steps we will be taking to achieve the spending target of at least £150 million over the next three years as set out in Taking Action—The UK's strategy for Tackling HIV and AIDS in the Developing World.
	These will be announced in December.
	DfID will be looking to support national strategies which aim to support the ability of communities to respond to and support families affected by AIDS to protect and care for their children. This will include of course not only children orphaned by AIDS but also vulnerable children more generally living in a world affected by HIV and AIDS.
	DfID's position on institutional care is clear. The setting up of orphanages as a response is not to be encouraged as such settings often fail to meet the developmental needs of children. Children once institutionalised often have difficulties later in reintegrating into society. Moreover orphanages are high cost in relation to other care options such as fostering. They are not a sustainable solution and should best be considered as a last resort.
	DfID does not have information on previous funding in this context; it is accepted that the response to orphans and vulnerable children at international and national levels has generally been inadequate. UNAIDS (2003) reported that more than a third of countries with generalised epidemics have no national policy to provide essential support to orphans and vulnerable children. However, we are now better informed about which interventions are likely to work and increased commitment is required to close the gap between need and response.

Army: Structure Changes

Lord Redesdale: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Army Board ordered the Adjutant General, Lieutenant-General Sir Alistair Irwin, to reduce the number of Army personnel; and, if so, to what level.
	 Question number missing in Hansard, possibly truncated question.

Lord Bach: The Adjutant General will manage the manpower implications of the Army force structure changes announced by the Secretary of State for Defence on 21 July. The future Army structure will require a shift in personnel from the current mix of light and heavy forces to a more balanced structure of light, medium and heavy forces. There will be a reduction of four infantry battalions as part of this process. The manpower released will be used to strengthen existing infantry units, and expand specialist areas such as engineers, logisticians, signallers and intelligence. The overall future size of the Army will be around 102,000.

Government Departments: Official Entertainment

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether government departments will adopt the Home Office policy that alcohol should not be provided from public funds for staff at official events held during normal working hours, but without the exception for senior management celebrating success and achievement.
	 Question number missing in Hansard, possibly truncated question.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Individual departments are responsible for determining their own policy and rules on official entertainment. Departmental rules and procedures are set out in staff handbooks, and must reflect the principles of propriety and financial regularity set out in the Civil Service Management Code and Government Accounting.

English Ports: Ocean-going Liners

Lord Fearn: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many ocean-going liners visited English ports in each of the years 2001, 2002 and 2003.
	 Question number missing in Hansard, possibly truncated question.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Information is not available in the form requested. Only information on ships carrying passengers on international cruises or other ships carrying passengers outside Europe and the Mediterranean is available.
	The following table shows the number of individual ships and their visits to English ports in 2001, 2002 and 2003 for the purposes of embarkation and disembarkation of passengers on international cruises or sea journeys outside Europe and the Mediterranean.
	
		
			 Year Individual ships Total visits 
			 2001 65 371 
			 2002 53 376 
			 2003 49 440